Michael Harrington – New Paintings

Mar 27, 2019

Michael Harrington – New Paintings

Michael Harrington

NEW PAINTINGSMarch 28 – April 9, 2019

Opening Reception Thursday, March 28, 2019 5:00pm—8:00pm

Michael Harrington had his first solo exhibit with Galerie St-Laurent + Hill 21 years ago. Since then he has produced an ongoing body of narrative-based paintings, creating scenes that are dark, cinematic and open to interpretation. His painting style, while representational, calls to mind both realism and folk art. His scenes can be both observational and surreal, with one or more figures in moments of contemplation, negotiation or camaraderie. As viewers, our encounters with these ‘meetings’ invite the question of motive. The unusual costuming, décor and gestures play with notions of performance and the ephemeral. Odd interior spaces and landscapes serve as backgrounds that depict common space that is not quite public or private ….a staged setting where we are the audience.

Psychologically, Harrington’s work hints at the social aspects of being a flawed human, and seeks empathy from the viewer through tragedy, comedy and pathos. Their intimate, awkward and open-ended narratives prove effective in mirroring, through the personal, how complicated humankind, and the human psyche can be.

Michael Harrington graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto in 1989. He has exhibited extensively in Canada and the United States. His work has been reviewed in Border Crossings magazine, the Globe and Mail, the Boston Globe and has been reproduced in Harper’s magazine and most recently in American Oxford Magazine. Harrington’s work can be found in the collections of the Glenbow Museum, the Agnes Etherington Art Centre in Kingston, the Canada Council Art Bank, as well as numerous corporate and private collections in North America and Europe. In 2007 Michael was awarded a gold medal from the Canadian National Magazine Awards for a painting commissioned by Toro Magazine. He lives and works in Ottawa.

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ESTABLISHED by Lt-Col. John By in 1826, the ByWard Market is one of Canada's oldest and largest public markets. The legendary builder of the Rideau Canal, Colonel By himself laid out the street plan of the Market, designating George Street and York Street to be extra wide to accommodate the creation of a public market and gathering place.